Girls Soccer: ORR captures key SCC win over Fairhaven

FAIRHAVEN — It was a win that didn't come easy, and it was exactly what Old Rochester needed.

Ed Collins

FAIRHAVEN — It was a win that didn't come easy, and it was exactly what Old Rochester needed.

Powered by a pair of goals from junior striker Gabby Kondracki, the Lady Bulldogs notched a 3-2 girls soccer victory over Fairhaven in a tough South Coast Conference matchup on Wednesday.

"We've been fighting a lot of different injuries and we have a lot of new faces in our lineup who aren't used to the defensive pressure we've been facing," Old Rochester coach Jeff Lombard said. "Coming here is never easy. Fairhaven is always very intense and they come right at you. We earned this one. Hopefully we can build on it and move forward."

The Lady Bulldogs (4-3-3, 4-1-3 SCC) scored on their fourth shot of the game to take what proved to be a 1-0 halftime lead on a goal by junior midfielder Katie Galavotti.

The score was set up by a pass from junior midfielder Laura Bichajian and it came with 10:50 left in the first half.

Fairhaven, which has started as many as six sophomores this season, played well in the opening 40 minutes, but had a tough time getting into a flow on offense.

That all changed in the second half though, because the Blue Devils (3-3-2 overall and in the SCC) scored on two of their first three shots after the intermission to tie the game on goals by sophomore forwards Kayli Berche and Emma Morehead.

Berche knocked in a rebound off a direct kick by senior midfielder Corinne Fortin to make it a 1-1 game at the 14:42 mark.

ORR re-took the lead about six minutes later when Kondracki headed in a corner kick by senior striker Therese Morss, but the Blue Devils kept working and they re-tied the score with 8:11 left to play on a goal by Morehead that was set up by senior forward Brenna Santos.

Both teams picked up their intensity after that, with good ball movement and crisp passing, but it was the Lady Bulldogs who cashed in for what proved to be the game winner with 4:43 remaining.

The score was set in motion on a nice cross by sophomore midfielder Hannah Walsh to Kondracki, who tucked in a shot at the left post under a diving save attempt by Fairhaven goalie Brittney Teixeira.

"We switched the field well and we played with a lot of patience on offense," Lombard said. "This was a good team win. We had to work for it and it feels good to come away with a victory."

Both teams got good play from their goalies. Junior Casey Magee finished with four saves for the Lady Bulldogs and Teixeira, a senior who volunteered to play in net after Katie Langlois transferred to GNB Voc-Tech, turned away five shots for Fairhaven.

The Blue Devils, who have been going through some growing pains with a young team, have been getting solid play from senior defender Harriet Beaulieu and sophomore midfielder Ashley Pereira, and coach Derek Galvam likes what he's been seen from his squad.

"We have a lot of new players who are picking up valuable experience and they're going to benefit from playing in a tough, intense game like this one," Galvam said. "The kids hung tough. They moved the ball well against (ORR's) pressure and generated some nice scoring chances in the second half. With a little more experience, we win games like this one in the future."

The Lady Bulldogs play a conference game at Case today. The Blue Devils host Bourne for a league matchup on Friday.

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